Fingerstyle Breakthroughs

Anyone who has witnessed the “magic hands“ of Tommy Emmanuel can fully appreciate why Chet Atkins bestowed him with the prestigious Certified Guitar Player title, calling him, “One of the greatest players on the planet.”

Students of guitar can’t help but wonder if the “six-string magic” that Tommy conjures up on the fretboard is even physically possible. Even advanced players struggle to emulate his technical mastery and creative finesse. All of the tab, notation, and video available today will only get you so far. No worries thrill seekers — Tommy Emmanuel’s new interactive video course, Fingerstyle Breakthroughs will help get you the rest of the way.

In the same way that a master magician teaches sleight-of-hand moves to an apprentice, Tommy slows it all down and lifts the hood to reveal the underlying mechanics that power his distinctive technique in Fingerstyle Breakthroughs.

For those players just starting to develop their fingerstyle skills, Fingerstyle Breakthroughs picks up where Fingerstyle Milestones left off. More advanced players will also benefit from this revealing curriculum, which breaks down the key elements of Tommy’s technique.

”On our journey as fingerstyle players, we start out learning the importance of thumb independence, boomchick bass, chords, melodies and harmony. In Fingerstyle Milestones we worked on your basic fingerstyle skills, and now with Fingerstyle Breakthroughs we’re going to learn 11 songs and new techniques such as inversions for boomchick patterns, muting techniques, classic fingerstyle licks, and how to build thumb speed.”

Tommy organized the course into three sections. In the first section, you’ll learn two new songs; Sweet Alla Lee and Spanish Fandango. For each of the two songs, Tommy will first perform the tune at tempo, then break it down for you. Tommy will also guide you through a slow playalong version of the song to practice with. On these two tunes, you’ll work on bass muting techniques and sustaining the melody to keep the higher notes ringing out.

In the second section, Tommy demonstrates a series of new ‘breakthrough’ techniques to prepare you to perform the songs in Section 3. You’ll work on Boomchick Inversions, Muting Techniques, Classic Fingerstyle Licks & Exercises, Bringing Out The Melody, Building Thumb Speed, Quick Chord Changes, 4 Stretching Exercises & Playalongs, and Key Changes.

In the third and final section, Tommy teaches you his original fingerstyle arrangements of 9 more songs: Back Home Again In Indiana, House of the Rising Sun, Tennessee Waltz, Liebestraum, Waltzing Matilda, Lime House Blues, The Entertainer, Avalon, and Cakewalk.

Similar to the song studies in Section 1, Tommy will first perform the tune at tempo, then break it down for you emphasizing the ‘breakthrough’ techniques that you learned in the previous section. Tommy will also guide you through slow playalong versions for all of the songs.

All of the key examples, performances, and playalongs are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and/or slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons.

Grab your guitar and let’s breakthrough with Tommy Emmanuel!